ACM SIGSOFT'91: SOFTWARE FOR CRITICAL SYSTEMS
4-6 December 1991
Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Computer systems are increasingly affecting nearly every aspect of our lives.
They control aircraft, shut down nuclear power reactors in emergencies, keep
our telephone systems running, monitor hospital patients, and execute financial
transactions. Although such critical systems offer considerable benefits, they
also pose serious risks in that we are increasingly vulnerable to flaws and
other deficiencies in the software, hardware failures, and effects of
accidental and intentional computer misuse. SIGSOFT '91 focuses on the
problems in building and validating critical software.
General Chair: Mark Moriconi, SRI International
Program Co-Chairs: Peter Neumann, SRI International
Nancy Leveson, Univ. of California, Irvine
Local Arrangements: Johnette Hassell, Tulane University
Administrative Assistance: Judith Burgess, SRI International
burg...@csl.sri.com phone: (415) 859-5924, FAX (415) 859-2844
Program Committee:
David Barstow (Schlumberger)
Dines Bj/orner (Technical University of Denmark)
Marie-Claude Gaudel (Universite de Paris - Sud)
Jim Horning (DEC Systems Research Center, Palo Alto)
Bill Howden (University of California, San Diego)
Hermann Kopetz (Technical University of Vienna)
Carl Landwehr (Naval Research Laboratory)
Bev Littlewood (City University, London)
Leon Osterweil (University of California, Irvine)
David Parnas (McMaster University, Canada)
Fred Schneider (Cornell University)
Vicky Stavridou (University of London)
Martyn Thomas (Praxis, Ltd)
Walter Tichy (University of Karlsruhe)
Elaine Weyuker (NYU Courant Institute)
WEDNESDAY, 4 DECEMBER 1991
Welcome and Introduction: 8:45am - 9:00
Mark Moriconi, SIGSOFT '91 Chair (SRI International)
Peter G. Neumann, Program Co-chair (SRI International)
Session 1: 9:00 - 10:15, Carl Landwehr, Chair
Formal Verification of Algorithms for Critical Systems
John Rushby (SRI International), Friedrich von Henke (University of Ulm)
State-Based Model Checking of Event-Driven System Requirements
Joanne M. Atlee and John Gannon (University of Maryland)
Open Discussion
Session 2: 10:45 - 12:30, Dines Bj/orner, Chair
Rigorous Development Using RAISE
Bent Dandanell (CRI, Birker/od, Denmark)
Specifying and Verifying Requirements of Real-Time Systems
K.M. Jensen, A.P. Ravn, and Hans Rischel (Tech. University of Denmark)
A Systematic Kernel Development
J.F. S/ogaard-Andersen, C.O. Rump and H.H. Lovengreen (Tech. Univ. Denmark)
Open Discussion
Session 3: 2:00 - 3:45, Elaine Weyuker, Chair
The Infeasibility of Experimental Quantification of Life-Critical
Software Reliability
Ricky Butler and George Finelli (NASA Langley Research Center)
PANEL: Limits of Probabilistic Risk Assessment
Ricky Butler (NASA Langley Research Center)
Bev Littlewood (City University, London)
John Musa (AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ) (unconfirmed)
David Parnas (McMaster University)
Martyn Thomas (Praxis, Ltd)
The Butler/Finelli paper argues that ultra-high reliability cannot be
validated directly from testing, nor can be it demonstrated by appeals
to software fault-tolerance. What progress might we reasonably
expect to make toward numerical risk assessment of life-critical software?
Session 4: 4:15 - 5:30, Martyn Thomas, Chair
PANEL: The Confused World of Standards for Critical Software
Mike DeWalt (FAA)
Peter Neumann (SRI International)
Martyn Thomas (Praxis, Ltd)
This session will discuss some of the current approaches to government
regulation such as British MoD DEFSTAN 00-55/56, the various security
security criteria (e.g., U.S. TCSEC, European ITSEC, Canadian CTCPEC).
What role should such standards play? What should be mandated regarding
requirements, specifications, criteria, methodologies, tools, and
certification of developers?
THURSDAY, 5 DECEMBER 1991
Session 5: 9:00am - 10:30, Fred Schneider, Chair
Comparing Fault Detecting Ability of Testing Methods
P.G. Frankl (Polytechnic University), E.J. Weyuker (NYU Courant Institute)
An Exception Handling Model For Parallel Programming and its Verification
Valerie Issarny (IRISA/INRIA)
Open Discussion
Session 6: 11:00 - 12:30
INVITED TALK: Human Error in Design
Henry Petroski (Duke University)
Author of the widely acclaimed books ``To Engineer is Human: The
Role of Failure in Successful Design'' and ``Pencil''
Session 7: 2:00 - 3:30, Victoria Stavridou, Chair
A Real-Time Transition Model for Analyzing Behavioral Compatibility of
Telecommunications Services
E.J. Cameron and Y-J Lin (Bellcore)
Programming and Verifying Critical Systems by Means of the Synchronous
Data-Flow Language LUSTRE
C. Ratel (Merlin-Gerin), N. Halbwachs and P. Raymond (IMAG/LGI)
Open Discussion
Session 8: 3:45 - 5:30, Mark Moriconi, Chair
Invited Presentations on Practical Experiences:
Validation of Critical Flight Controls
Jim McWha (Chief Engineer in charge of 777 Flight Controls, Boeing)
Telephone Switching Systems
Michael Meyers (AT&T Bell Labs)
A Case Study of the THERAC-25 Accidents
Nancy Leveson (U.C., Irvine)
Session 9: 8:00pm - 9:30pm, Evening Poster Session
FRIDAY, 6 DECEMBER 1991
Session 10: 8:30am - 10:30, Hermann Kopetz, Chair
Stepwise Design of Real-Time Systems
Reino Kurki-Suonio (University of Technology, Tampere)
On Satisfying Timing Constraints in Hard-Real-Time Systems
Jia Xu (York University) and David Parnas (McMaster University)
Automated Analysis of Bounded Response Time for Two NASA Expert Systems
C-K Wang, R-H Wang, D-C Tsou, J.C. Browne, and A.K. Mok (University
of Texas, Austin)
Open Discussion
Session 11: 11:00 - 12:30
PANEL: Where are we and where should we be headed?
Nancy Leveson (U.C. Irvine) and others
What is the state of the art in building critical systems? What
are the key problem areas and how do we make progress?
Adjournment at 12:30
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ADVANCE REGISTRATION FORM
SIGSOFT '91 -- Software for Critical Systems
Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans, Dec. 4 -- 6, 1991
Name _________________________________________________________
Affiliation __________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________________
City, State and Zip __________________________________________
Phone (and FAX) ______________________________________________
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Registration Fees (Circle one)
Before After
Category Nov. 1 Nov. 1
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Non-Member $330 $380
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burg...@csl.sri.com phone: (415) 859-5924, FAX (415) 859-2844
NOTE: REGISTRATION BY EMAIL OR FAX IS ALSO PERMITTED (ONLY WITH CREDIT CARD).
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FAIRMONT HOTEL RESERVATION FORM
SIGSOFT '91 -- Software for Critical Systems
New Orleans, Dec. 4 -- 6, 1991
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Address ______________________________________________________
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